Deceit's Plan
by Great-Need-to-Take-a-Nap
Summary: Deceit has a plan that's been in motion for weeks and Roman just starts to figure it out at the same time that he and Virgil come together and admit their feelings for each other. But as they do, Deceit strikes and Virgil's mental state is put in danger. Deceit and Remus now have Virgil in their clutches. Will Roman get there before Virgil's mind is completely broken?
1. Admissions

"Because I used to be one of them," Virgil admitted before sinking out. He returned to the consciousness where the other three were waiting for him. He could feel their stares but refused to meet their eyes as he turned towards the stairs to leave.

"Virgil?" Patton murmured gently, but Virgil ignored him and hurried up to his room, slamming the door behind him. He leaned against the wall as he took in shuddering breaths. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks as he pulled his hood up over his head and slid to the ground, holding his knees to his chest.

Downstairs the air was tense and quiet. They all knew that these recent events had deeply affected Virgil and they were unsure of what to do. Patton hesitantly stepped towards the stairs but Roman stopped him. "Not now, Patton."

"Actually, Roman, someone needs to go talk to him," Logan noted, adjusting his glasses. "Considering what just occurred, he should not be left alone."

Roman sighed and nodded. "I'll do it, then. My brother is the one who caused this today," he agreed and headed upstairs. He gently knocked on Virgil's door and didn't hear a response. "Virgil? I'm coming in, okay?" When he still received no response, he sighed and slowly opened the door, stepping into the dark room. He closed the door behind him as he spotted Virgil. The anxious side was curled up on the floor, his arms wrapped around his legs, his hood up over his head, and his face pressed against his knees as his shoulders shook. "Virgil?"

"Roman, go away," Virgil's muffled voice said. The Prince of course ignored him and walked over, sitting down next to him.

Roman watched him for several moments, fiddling with his fingers. "I…I'm so sorry, Virgil."

Virgil looked up at him, his eyeshadow sliding down his face with his tears. "What the hell are you sorry for? You haven't done anything wrong."

"My brother did this. I'm sorry about that," Roman explained. "He has a talent for ruining things and causing trouble. I'm sorry he got you so worked up."

"Not your fault," Virgil mumbled and looked away.

Roman leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. "Remus is…part of why I used to be so mean to you," he admitted quietly. "I've always been ashamed of him. But he's my brother. I don't have a choice about being associated with him. But you did. You were one of the Dark Sides alongside him. It…made me mistrust you. I couldn't help but think bad of you for willingly being his friend." Roman took a slow breath and closed his eyes. "Why were you his friend?"

"Deceit…" Virgil muttered, his voice cracking. "He and Deceit were friends, and Dee and I…I was his friend because Deceit was. And I was terrified the whole time," Virgil told him, his voice shaking as he bit back a sob. "I was so scared of him and what I thought he meant for Thomas. Being with them, with Deceit just made me worse and I was…"

"Paranoid," Roman finished for him softly. "Logan told me he almost called you that today."

Virgil sighed and nodded. "Deceit used me. Used my fear to control Thomas. I knew one of them was. But I trusted Dee. He convinced me it wasn't him. So, I started watching the other's every move. Dissected every word they said while forgetting about the snake whispering in my ear. I…I was blinded by love and he steadily worsened my anxiety to the point that I…became paranoid. He used that to get Thomas to do what he wanted. I never wanted to hurt Thomas but that's exactly what I did." Virgil paused as several quiet sobs escaped him. "And I did it again. I hurt Thomas. I accused him of being tempted by Remus' suggestions and said he could be lying when he said he wasn't. I was so focused on my fear that I really hurt him…Your brother is right." Roman looked over at him with wide eyes. "No matter what I do, no matter how much I try…I'm still just the bad guy. Nothing's changed," Virgil whispered, staring blankly at his hands, his face covered in tears.

"Virgil," Roman mumbled, shaking his head. "Virgil, look at me," he pleaded but the anxious side continued to blankly stare ahead of him. The look in Virgil's eyes was breaking his heart. He just looked so…broken. Roman thought about everything as he watched the secret love of his life break right in front of him. His mind kept wandering to Deceit. Virgil's ex and the leader of the Dark Sides. Lately that snake had been subtly trying to break Virgil down, like in the courtroom scenario. Then his brother shows up and just announces himself. It wasn't like Remus to attack like this. He was usually subtle and sneaky about suggesting things to Thomas. He kept thinking about it until an idea occurred to him. "Virge. Did my brother mention Deceit at all today?" Virgil didn't say anything but nodded and Roman's eyes widened. "This is exactly what he wanted," he exclaimed and took Virgil's hand.

Blank and broken eyes slowly met his as Virgil looked up at him. "What?"

"Deceit. He sent my brother to terrify you and send you into a paranoid state," Roman clarified.

"Why?"

"So that you'd accidentally hurt Thomas. That way you would break down and isolate yourself. If you isolate yourself from us and feel like you don't belong here anymore then you'd be tempted to go back to them. He wants you to break and rejoin them," Roman explained, and Virgil sat up straight with wide eyes. "Virge. Please listen to me. You're not the bad guy. You never were. You're a victim of Deceit's manipulation. Not a villain. Deceit's the villain. Not you. You've never ever been the bad guy," Roman told him and squeezed his hand gently. After a moment, Virgil looked up at him with a glimmer of hope in his eyes and a small smile pulling at his lips. Roman was momentarily lost in Virgil's eyes. He didn't know what came over him, but he then leaned in and pressed his lips against Virgil's.

Time seemed to stop as they kissed. Virgil leaned into it as Roman cupped his hand at the back of his hand, pulling him closer. Virgil gently opened his mouth, letting Roman in. The Prince darted his tongue in and quickly dominated the kiss. He had no idea how long is lasted or how Virgil ended up in his lap but eventually he pulled away to breathe, resting his head against the wall with a breathless smile. Roman looked up at Virgil who was on top of him, straddling his hips and was captivated by the sight. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, black eyeshadow streaked down his face like a raccoon. But his face was flushed, his lips plump from kissing, and he took heavy breaths with a faint smile, emotion returning to his eyes. Somehow, he looked absolutely beautiful to Roman and it caused his pants to tighten a bit.

Virgil, who was sat directly on top of that area, seemed to notice, glancing down before meeting his eyes with one eyebrow raised. "Sorry," Roman whispered, blushing deeply.

Virgil lowered his hood and ran a hand through his hair with a tiny smile. "Maybe later, Princey. After we let this set in. Got to hand it to you though. This is one hell of a way to cheer me up. Thank you."

Roman smiled brightly at him. "How about I get us some calming tea to help your anxiety and we huddle up in your blankets to have a Disney marathon," Roman suggested, still blushing wildly.

"You've got a deal," Virgil nodded and climbed off of him. "So long as there's more kissing. I'll set up the T.V."

Roman grinned as he stood up. "Sounds like a plan," he agreed as he headed out of the room. "Be right back."


	2. He Belongs To Me

Virgil fixed his eyeshadow and cleaned up his face before he started towards his bed. He let out a yelp as he was grabbed from behind. He heard a loud snap and ropes tightly bound his hands behind his back and a foul-smelling rag was forced over his mouth and nose. Chloroform. He panicked and started struggling, screaming for Roman but his voice was muffled by the rag.

This is what happens when you make things difficult, V. You shouldn't have left," a voice whispered into his ear. Deceit. He screamed louder and weakly struggled. His strength was quickly leaving him. He barely noticed the camera floating in front of him as his vision began to blur and darken. "You all should've seen this coming. He belongs to me. Don't worry. His punishment is well deserved. Remus is going to have so much fun with him. Especially once he hears about Virgil and Roman being so…close. It would be a shame for you all to miss it. So, I'll keep you updated. You're going to love this." Virgil hardly paid any attention to what was being said to the camera as everything went dark.

Roman returned to Virgil's room with two cups of tea and frowned when he saw that the room was empty. Virgil wasn't anywhere in sight after he searched the room and bathroom. The only thing different aside from Virgil not being in there was a laptop on the bed that wasn't there before. He set the teacups on the dresser and walked over to the bed. His heart stopped at what he saw. On top of the laptop was a number of pictures. Pictures of Virgil tied up and unconscious on the floor of his room. There was also a note with instructions to watch the video on the laptop and wait for the live show, whatever that meant. He ran downstairs with the items, his heart racing in his chest. "Virgil's gone!" he shouted. "Someone took him!"

Patton and Logan ran over, and he showed them everything. Patton began crying as Logan examined the pictures. "Roman. Connect the computer to the television. A larger screen may help us find more clues." Roman nodded and got to work, doing his best to try and keep everything he was feeling bottled up and hidden. He felt that he needed to be strong right now as if it would help him find Virgil sooner. However, his plan wasn't working out as his vision was constantly blurred, and he had to blink the tears from his eyes every few seconds. Trying to bottle up his emotions and hide them simply turned into ignoring them. He ignored the stream of tears that were rolling down his face, ignored the shaking of his hands, and ignored the sobs coming from him without his control. He was nearly finished connecting the computer to the T.V. and only had one wire left. However, he had trouble connecting it as the shaking of his hands got worse and worse as time passed and the shaking was so bad now that he spent a whole two minutes trying to connect the last wire and could not get it in the port no matter how hard he tried and he was growing more and more frustrated with it. His hands wouldn't stop shaking, his breathing had picked up as his panic and worry grew, and his sobs mixed with frustrated growls. He cursed under his breath as he continued to struggle with the last wire.

Patton knelt down next to him and tenderly took his trembling hands into his own. "Go sit down, Roman. I've got this," he told him gently, his own voice cracking with emotion. Roman broke down into heavy sobs and hugged Patton tightly before retreating to the couch, hanging his head into his hands as he cried. A few moments later, Logan sat down next to him while Patton finished with the computer.

Roman slowly lifted his head, biting back a few sobs. "Find anything?" he mumbled.

"Whoever did it posed Virgil in order to taunt us. Virgil was also incapacitated in a nonviolent way. There were no visible marks or wounds and no blood. However, the skin around his mouth and nose was slightly red as if the skin had been irritated by a chemical of some sort. I believe chloroform was used on him," Logan listed off as Patton joined them.

Roman felt his anger rise at that thought and turned on the T.V., playing the video. They all watched in horror as Deceit attacked Virgil from behind and taunted them. He felt a mixture of hurt and rage as Virgil visibly weakened in Deceit's grasp as the chloroform on the rag began to take effect. His hands were bound behind him, but he was still frantically struggling and Roman could tell that Virgil was panicking. He was kicking his legs and twisting his arms to try and get out of the ropes, muffled screams chilling Roman to the core and he knew he would later have nightmares filled with those screams. With each passing second, however, Virgil's fighting lessened, and it was clear that he was succumbing to the chloroform. Roman was so focused on Virgil that he only caught bits and pieces of what Deceit was saying. "You all should've seen this coming. He belongs to me. Don't worry. His punishment is well deserved. Remus is going to have so much fun with him. Especially once he hears about Virgil and Roman being so…close." Roman's blood went cold when he heard that, an audible gasp escaping him. Patton wrapped his arms around him, gently rubbing his back as more tears ran down Roman's face, his hands shaking. "It would be a shame for you all to miss it. So, I'll keep you updated. You're going to love this." While Deceit said this, Virgil's eyes fluttered closed and his struggling stopped completely as his whole body went limp. Deceit released his grip on Virgil and let him fall to the floor without care. "Finally. Now it's time for the real fun to begin." The video ended and they sat in silence for several minutes.

After about five minutes, Roman was able to control his sobs to a minimum and calmed his breathing. "I'm going to destroy him," he mumbled angrily.

"Roman. You know your brother better than we do. What can he do that can harm Virgil?" Logan asked carefully, watching him with a slightly hesitant look as anger and pain radiated off of Roman.

Roman bit his lip and looked down. "Hallucinations. Disturbing and realistic ones. If he knows what he's doing, he can make Virgil's worst fears come to life in front of his eyes. Make him see all of his worst nightmares. He…he can mentally break him," he explained, closing his eyes. "He can even…If he concentrates enough…he can make them real enough to physically harm him."

They all went silent for a few seconds, letting that information sink in before Patton spoke up. "We've got to get him back," he cried. Before anyone could say anything back, the link for the live footage popped up. Roman hesitated before clicking on it and immediately regretted it. Virgil was chained to the ceiling, barely conscious, with Roman's brother and Deceit standing next to him with wide smiles.

"Oh no…" Roman mumbled to himself.

"Welcome to the show," Deceit grinned. "Virgil made the mistake of leaving and now he needs to pay for it. Which is why Remus is here," he explained and laughed. "It's no secret that Virgil's afraid of him and what he can do. What better way to punish him than to have Remus bring Virgil's fears to life? It's perfect."

"Do pay attention, brother. This will be fun," Remus added with a laugh.

"Shit. They're in his room," Roman muttered in a slight panic.

"Good. We know where he is so we can go get him," Logan noted, not understanding what Roman meant.

"No. Not good. His powers are heightened there. Meaning that it would take no effort for him to make the hallucinations real enough to physically hurt Virgil. They're not just going to mentally torture. They're going to physically torture him," he explained and stood up in a hurry.

Deceit walked up to Virgil and tapped his cheek. "Wakey wakey, V." Virgil opened his eyes slowly and glanced around, his eyes landing on the camera. "Yes, V. They're watching this. _He's_ watching this," Deceit informed him with a bit of anger in his voice when he alluded to Roman specifically watching. Roman had a suspicion that it was jealousy as Virgil left Deceit and had now fallen for Roman.

"Honestly, Virgil. Getting cozy with my brother? With his boring imagination? His dick must be just as boring. And that's what you chose? Pathetic," Remus taunted. "But it does give me ideas." He walked over to Virgil and tapped a finger against the anxious trait's forehead. "Enjoy this." Green flashed in Virgil's eyes and his breath hitched sharply. "No. No no no no no no no no," Virgil mumbled quickly, his voice cracking.

"I have to go get him," Roman growled and grabbed his sword.

"We'll come with you," Patton stated, jumping up.

Roman shook his head. "You can't. If you were to enter his room, he could do the same to you. I can fight against it. You can't. It's too dangerous. I have to go alone. I won't risk your safety," Roman explained. "I'll get him back," he promised and sank down before they could protest.


	3. The Harm of Hallucinations

Roman searched for his brother's room. He knew the general area that it was in, but it had been so long since he'd been to his brother's room that he didn't remember the exact location. After searching multiple wrong places, he finally found the right one. He prepared himself and charged inside, sword raised. Virgil was still dangling in the chains that were attached to the ceiling. Virgil was hanging his full body weight in the chains wrapped around his wrists, his feet a few inches above the floor. He looked absolutely terrible compared to before when Roman first saw him on the live footage. His purple shirt had been ripped open and his chest, neck, and face were covered in cuts and bruises and even more disturbing was the stab wounds and slices across his chest that looked as if they were from a sword. Deceit and Remus were speaking to Virgil, but it seemed that he was hardly aware of either of them. Roman's heart nearly stopped as his blood ran cold. That wasn't good and he hoped that he wasn't too late.

"Let him go!" Roman shouted as he charged inside. Deceit shrieked and ran off, leaving him with only Remus who pulled out his own sword.

"Always in time to ruin my fun. You're just here because you want his D," Remus laughed and swung at him. Roman growled and dodged. The two of them fought for several minutes, knocking the camera over, and trading blows and cuts from their swords until Roman got the upper hand and subdues his twin, knocking him out.

"Virgil!" Roman shouted and ran over to him. He quickly released him from the chains, catching Virgil as he collapsed. He knelt down and held the anxious side in his arms. Virgil was staring out at nothing, silent tears rolling down his face, muttering unintelligibly under his breath while his whole body was shaking a trembling. Bruises continued to appear on his skin from seemingly nothing along with new cuts and other wounds. He was freezing to the touch and was visually paler than usual. "V-Virgil?" he asked gently, trying to get his attention, and his heart absolutely broke when Virgil cried out in pain, spots of blood seeping through the remains of his purple shirt. His eyes still had a green tint to them and Roman realized the problem. He took a deep breath and tapped a finger against Virgil's forehead, banishing Remus' hallucinations.

The green in his eyes faded and he took a sharp breath, his gaze landing on the Prince. "R-Roman?" he whispered weakly before going limp in Roman's arms.

"I've got you. You're okay," Roman answered gently, picking Virgil up as he stood and sank out. The two of them returned to the main area. Logan quickly grabbed a med kit and Patton helped them to the couch. Roman sat down and held Virgil close to his chest. His crying had subsided, but he was still trembling.

Logan walked over and began treating his wounds. His jacket and the remains of his shirt were removed as they cleaned him up. "He's in shock," Logan stated and wrapped a blanket around Virgil. He finished stitching up Virgil's wounds and set down a glass of water of the table for when he woke up.

"I can take it from here," Roman told them, his voice shaking as he held Virgil tightly.

"You sure, kiddo?" Patton asked gently. "We can stay out here with you, it's no trouble."

Roman shook his head. "No…no, it's late. You two need your sleep. I'll watch over him tonight."

Logan and Patton both seemed hesitant but eventually agreed, nodding. Logan headed upstairs but Patton glanced back at Roman. "I'll keep my phone on. If you need any help or need someone else to take watch so you can sleep, just call me, okay?"

"I promise," Roman smiled and Patton headed up to his room. Roman held Virgil close to him, brushing his bangs out of the way as he watched over him.

The Prince had nearly drifted off to sleep when he heard a soft "Roman?" It was barely a whisper as Virgil was incredibly weak and couldn't really speak much louder, but it was enough to get Roman's attention and he looked down to see Virgil's tired eyes staring back at him. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me. I wasn't going to leave you with them. Ever," he told him, giving him a gentle kiss. "I…I'm in love with you," Roman admitted.

"I…same," Virgil whispered and snuggled closer to him, falling asleep in Roman's arms.


End file.
